Johnny & Mary, Covers (Placebo lyrics, explanations and press quotes)

Johnny's always running around,
Trying to find certainty.
He needs all the world to confirm,
That he aint lonely

Mary counts walls,
Knows he tires easily

Johnny thinks the world would be right,
If it would buy, truth from him.
Mary says he changes his mind,
More than a woman.

But she made her bed,
Even when the chance was slim.

Johnny says he's willing to learn,
When he decides, he's a fool.
Johnny say's he'll live any where,
When he earns time to.

Mary combs her hair,
Says she should be use to it.

Mary always edges her bets,
She never knows, what to think.
She says that he still acts,
Like he's being discovered.

Scared that he'll get caught,
Without a second thought

Johnny feels he's wasting his breath,
Trying to talk, sense to her
Mary says he's lacking a real,
Sense of proportion
So she combs her hair,
Knows he tires easily

Johnny's always running around,
Trying to find certainty.
He needs all the world to confirm,
That he aint lonely

Mary counts walls,
Says she should be use to it.

Press Quotes

(Translation, quote in French here)

And what about the cover of Robert Palmer Johnny & Mary on the Taste In Men maxi ?

Johnny & Mary is a very very sad story about people who are together, but who look at the walls, who are together in solitude, it'ss a relationship that is no longer really a relationship… It's not really the 'Renault' ad atmosphere (the original song had served as soundtrack for the car manufacturer's ad in the 80').

Brian Molko, Interview shamrock 2000

(Translation, quote in French here)

"Bernard Lenoir : Is it a joke or is it… ?

Brian : No, it's a song we've always loved. It's like Steve said, I play it on the guitar for 10 years. That's the only guitar solo I know that I can play. And I've always wanted to do a punk version of Johnny & Mary. We think that this is a pretty "up" song, but if you listen to the lyrics it is quite depressing. It's about a couple which prefers to watch the walls than to talk, which are together in silence. It's pretty sad. And euhm... it's often like that with the duality that exists in Placebo's music, it seduces you with something sonically...with a sound a little bit "up", and then we give you lyrics wich are perhaps a little bit more heavy. "

Brian Molko, Interview radio France Inter C'est Lenoir, February 4th 2003

JH: I was wondering how you chose your covers. What inspired you to do those particular songs?

BM: We're children of the ‘80s. We grew up with disco on the radio, and we grew up with mainstream ‘80s pop. But at the same time, we grew up with the birth of alternative and indie music labels. We grew up with the Smiths and the Cure, and the Pixies and Sonic Youth. What I find interesting about that decade as far as the mainstream music is concerned -- for example, take “Running Up That Hill” by Kate Bush, take “Babushka” by Kate Bush, take “Wuthering Heights” by Kate Bush. These are really fucking kooky, weird, pop songs. Take “Ashes to Ashes” by David Bowie. This is a really weird, avant-garde song. What I find interesting about that decade is that mainstream artists were trying to really push the boundaries of what pop was as far as they could, and had an avant-garde art approach to pop music. I think unfortunately, due to the proliferation of these popularity contests, which I believe to be the work of Satan -- and I'm talking about “American Idol” and all that nonsense -- which have no cultural value whatsoever. It should be called “Karaoke Idol.” Its sole reason for existence is to fill the pockets of the TV company and the record company that's going to get the winner. It's partly responsible for the cessation of an avant-garde approach to what pop music is. You go back even to something like “Rapture” by Blondie, my god! They almost invented rap music at that point. It was incredible that Debbie Harry would have a go at rapping about Fab Five Freddie. It's insane! I just don't think that the avant-garde spirit exists today. So when we cover songs, we have a tendency to go back to the ‘80s and cover songs which got us interested in pop music. That's why you've got “Johnny and Mary” by Robert Palmer, that's why you've got “Daddy Cool” by Boney M -- or “Running Up That Hill” for that matter. These are songs which remind us of our childhood and make us feel nostalgic, which is why we try to do something modern with them.

Brian Molko, Suicide Girls, September 11th 2007